Feb. 25, 2011

The South Carolina men’s basketball team (14-12, 5-8 SEC) travels to face Georgia (18-9, 7-6) in SEC action on Saturday at Stegeman Coliseum in Athens, Ga. Tip time is set for 7 p.m., with the contest televised on FSN with Dave Neal and Mark Wise on the call.

GAME INFORMATION
Date: Saturday, February 26, 2011
Tipoff: 7 p.m. ET
Location: Athens, Ga.
Arena: Stegeman Coliseum
Series: Georgia leads 48-47
Television: FSN
Talent: Dave Neal (pxp), Mark Wise (analyst);
Andy Pollack (producer)
Radio: Gamecock Radio Network
(107.5 FM – Columbia/GamecocksOnline.com)
Talent: Andy Demetra (pxp), Casey Manning (analyst)
Live Stats: GamecocksOnline.com
Multimedia: ESPN3.com

Game Notes vs. Georgia | Find The Gamecocks On TV

Carolina Quick Hits
– South Carolina is in its 103rd season of basketball.
– Carolina will play two of its final three regular-season contests on the road (at UGA, vs. Tenn., at Miss. State).
– South Carolina snapped a five-game losing streak when it defeated Ole Miss on Tuesday behind senior forward Sam Muldrow’s sixth double-double of the season. Muldrow matched his career high with 23 points in the win.
– Redshirt-junior forward Malik Cooke tallied 13 points vs. Ole Miss on Tuesday. Cooke has tallied double-digit points in six of the last seven games, including a career high 22 points vs. Tennessee on Feb. 16.
– Freshman point guard Eric Smith dished a season-high seven assists vs. Ole Miss on Tuesday.
– Muldrow became the all-time leader in South Carolina history with his four blocks vs. Georgia on Feb. 12. Muldrow now has 261 career blocks, which surpassed the previous high-water mark of 249 set by Brandon Wallace during the 2006-07 campaign.
– Ellington has seven 20-point games this season and one 30-point contest (at Furman).
– South Carolina ranks first in the SEC in overall games with 14.5 offensive rebounds per game.
– South Carolina ranks third in the nation (Feb. 21 NCAA stats) and second in the SEC in blocked shots per game with 6.3 per outing. Muldrow ranks first in the SEC and fifth in the nation in blocks per game (3.4).
– The Gamecocks are 11-0 this season when leading at the halftime break. South Carolina held a halftime lead vs. Ole Miss at 38-34. It marked the first time the Gamecocks held a lead at the intermission since holding a 31-27 advantage at LSU on Feb. 2.
– In league play, the combination of Ellington, Muldrow, Galloway and Cooke account for 46.8 points per game, 71.6% of South Carolina’s offensive production.
– In home games, South Carolina has held its opponent to under 41% shooting in 10 of 16 contests. The Gamecocks held Ole Miss to just 36.9% (24-65) on Tuesday.

Among Freshman In The SEC
– In overall games … Bruce Ellington ranks fourth in points per game (13.3), sixth in rebounding (3.4), third in assists (3.4) and sixth in steals (1.0) … Damontre Harris ranks second in field goal percentage (58.2%), fourth in rebounding (3.6) and third in blocks per game (0.9).

Scouting Georgia
– UGA owns a 1-2 record in the three games since collecting a 60-56 win over South Carolina on Feb. 12. The Bulldogs most recently suffered a loss at Florida on Thursday night despite a 33-26 halftime lead.
– Georgia is 10-4 in home contests this season, including a 3-3 mark in SEC play.
– Junior forward Trey Thompkins paces the team with 16.0 points and 7.6 rebounds per contest. Travis Leslie (14.2) and Gerald Robinson Jr. (12.6) also contribute double-digits per game.
– The duo of Robinson Jr. and Dustin Ware have combined for 208 assists this season with 105 and 103, respectively. UGA leads the SEC in assists per game with 15.7 entering Saturday’s contest.

Georgia Series Information
– Georgia holds a 48-47 edge in the all-time series between the two schools, including a 28-15 upperhand in games played in Athens.
– The Bulldogs collected a 60-56 victory in the first meeting between the two schools in 2011. South Carolina scored just nine points in the opening half, before storming back in the second half, out-scoring UGA 47-32 in the second half to nearly earn the come-from-behind victory.
– Georgia defeated Carolina 66-61 last season in Athens to break a three-game South Carolina winning streak in the series.
– South Carolina has won four of its last 10 contests at Stegeman Coliseum. Darrin Horn is 1-1 as the head coach of the Gamecocks at the facility.

Star Watch – Malik Cooke
– Redshirt-junior forward Malik Cooke has led the Gamecocks in scoring in three of the last four games, including a career high 22 points at Tennessee.
– Cooke has led the team in scoring five times, rebounds nine times and steals a team-best 10 times this season in overall games.
– Over the course of the last five games, Cooke averages 13.6 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.8 steals in 26.8 minutes per game.

By The Numbers
– 11 – Freshman forward Damontre Harris tallied a season high 11 points to go along with eight rebounds in the win over Ole Miss on Tuesday. The 11 points marked the first double-digit point game of the season for the Fayetteville, N.C., native.
– 90.9% – South Carolina shot 90.9% (20-22) from the free throw line vs. Ole Miss. It was the best percentage from the free throw line for the Gamecocks ever under the direction of Darrin Horn. The previous high was an 84.8% performance (28-33) vs. The Citadel on Dec. 20, 2008.
– 79 – South Carolina’s 79 points vs. Ole Miss were the most since scoring 81 points in an overtime win over Arkansas and the most points in a non-overtime contest since a 91-point effort vs. SC State on Jan. 4.
– 7 – Freshman guard Eric Smith dished seven assists in just 18 minutes of action vs. Ole Miss. For the season, Smith dishes 1.6 assists in 12.6 minutes per outing.
– 32 – After struggling to get the ball inside over the course of the last few games, South Carolina scored 32 points in the paint vs. Ole Miss, 10 more than the Rebels. It marked the first time the Gamecocks held an advantage inside since holding a 40-30 upperhand vs. Vanderbilt in the SEC opener on Jan. 8.

Up Next For South Carolina
– South Carolina will host Tennessee for Senior Day at Colonial Life Arena on March 3. The contest will tip-off at 7 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN